Pitneybowes

What is pitneybowes.com

PitneyBowes (accessible at pitneybowes.com) is a provider of shipping, mailing, postage metering, ecommerce, and location intelligence solutions for businesses of all sizes. The company offers a combined portfolio of hardware (postage meters, printers, parcel lockers), cloud software (shipping and returns platforms, address validation, tax and duty estimation), and developer APIs for integrating shipping and location services into business systems.

PitneyBowes products are organized around three core customer needs: sending (postage and parcel shipping), commerce (cross-border ecommerce, returns and fulfillment), and location intelligence (address validation, geocoding). Enterprises typically use PitneyBowes to reduce postage and courier costs, automate postage metering, ensure address quality, and manage returns and international duties. Small and medium businesses use scaled versions of the same services via subscription software like SendPro Online and cloud APIs.

The website provides product documentation, developer resources, and sales contact options. If you need technical integration details, Pitney Bowes maintains a developer portal with API documentation and SDKs for common languages and platforms (see the Pitney Bowes developer portal for API references).

Pitney Bowes features

What does pitneybowes.com do?

PitneyBowes combines hardware and software to handle physical and digital shipping workflows. Core capabilities include:

• Postage metering and mailing: Postage meters and mailing systems that print postage and tracking labels, calculate postage discounts, and manage postal indicia for domestic and international mail.
• Parcel shipping optimization: Rate shopping across carriers, batch label printing, carrier rate negotiation support, manifesting, and automated carrier selection to lower shipping costs and improve delivery times.
• Ecommerce and cross-border services: Customs, tax and duty calculation, landed-cost estimation, international documentation generation, and returns management designed for ecommerce merchants shipping internationally.
• Address validation and geocoding: Real-time US and international address validation, standardized formatting, geocoding, and NCOA/DSF services to improve delivery success and reduce return-to-sender instances.
• Developer APIs and integrations: REST APIs for address verification, shipping/labeling, tracking, duties and taxes, and e-commerce marketplace connectors for platforms like Shopify and major carriers.
• Analytics and reporting: Shipment performance dashboards, postage and shipping spend analytics, and audit trails for regulatory and accounting purposes.

These features are available as standalone modules or as integrated solutions depending on business size and implementation scope. Hardware like postage meters and automated inserters can be combined with cloud services to centralize postage accounting and reporting across multiple sites.

Pitney Bowes pricing

Pitney Bowes offers these pricing plans:

• Free Plan: $0/month — limited access to promotional tools, address verification trial credits, and basic postage calculators
• Starter: $10/month — basic shipping label printing, single-user SendPro Online access, limited integrations and postage purchase via account
• Professional: $49/month — multi-user access, batch shipping, rate shopping, returns portal, and expanded address validation quotas
• Enterprise: Custom pricing — full feature set including advanced APIs, dedicated account management, SSO, SLAs, and on-premises hardware options

These sample tiers reflect the typical structure for Pitney Bowes' cloud and subscription services. Hardware (postage meters, printers) is typically sold or leased separately and often requires postage account funding and maintenance contracts. For exact, current plan details and hardware leasing options, check Pitney Bowes' dedicated pages for their shipping and mailing solutions and the SendPro Online product pages: view the Pitney Bowes shipping and mailing solutions and the SendPro Online product information for up-to-date pricing and enterprise quotes.

How much is Pitney Bowes per month

Pitney Bowes subscription plans commonly start at $10/month for basic small-business shipping and mailing subscriptions. Monthly costs scale with the number of users, volume of shipments, and additional modules (address validation, cross-border services, or higher API quotas).

How much is Pitney Bowes per year

Pitney Bowes annual subscriptions commonly cost around $120/year for entry-level plans when billed annually, with professional plans typically ranging into the hundreds per year and enterprise contracts priced higher based on customization and volume.

How much is Pitney Bowes in general

Pitney Bowes pricing ranges from $0 (limited free tools and trials) to custom enterprise contracts that can exceed $1,000+/month depending on shipping volume, hardware leases, and integration scope. Small businesses will commonly see costs between $10/month and $100/month, while larger organizations should expect negotiated annual contracts that bundle software, hardware rental, API access, and support.

What is Pitney Bowes used for

Pitney Bowes is used to automate postage and shipping operations, improve address quality, manage returns, and support international ecommerce. Typical use cases include:

• Mail centers and corporate mailrooms: Automating postage meter management, tracking mailed pieces, and centrally accounting for postage spend.
• Ecommerce merchants: Checkout-level duties/taxes calculation, label generation, returns portals, and cross-border shipping optimization to reduce costs and delivery times.
• Third-party logistics (3PL) providers: Integrating carrier selection, manifesting, and billing across multiple clients and marketplaces.
• Retail and fulfillment centers: Streamlining parcel labeling, combining carrier contracts, and using rate shopping to lower average shipping costs.
• Enterprises needing address hygiene: Regularly validating, standardizing, and appending address data to reduce failed deliveries and ensure compliance with postal standards.

Pitney Bowes is commonly chosen where a business requires both physical mailing hardware and cloud-based shipping/integration services from a single vendor, simplifying vendor management and accounting for postage and parcel spend.

Pros and cons of Pitney Bowes

Pitney Bowes is a mature vendor with a broad portfolio; choosing it depends on balancing the breadth of offerings against cost and integration preferences.

Pros:

• Comprehensive suite: hardware + software + APIs reduces vendor fragmentation for shipping and mailing.
• Strong address intelligence: robust validation and geocoding for domestic and international addresses.
• Enterprise features: SLAs, account management, and compliance support for regulated industries.
• Global commerce support: duties/taxes and documentation tools for international ecommerce.

Cons:

• Cost: enterprise-grade features and hardware leasing can be expensive compared with point solutions.
• Complexity: full feature set requires implementation and possible onboarding assistance, especially for multi-site deployments.
• Integration effort: while APIs exist, customers may need developer resources to integrate deeply with ERP, WMS, or e-commerce platforms.

Pitney Bowes free trial

Pitney Bowes typically offers trial access and demo credits for cloud services such as address validation and SendPro Online. Trials let teams verify address verification results, try label printing and rate shopping, and test basic API calls before committing. For hardware, Pitney Bowes offers demonstrations and leasing pilots rather than conventional free trials.

To get trial access, businesses should request a demo or developer sandbox via the Pitney Bowes site and developer portal: explore the Pitney Bowes developer portal for trial API keys and sandbox documentation.

Is Pitney Bowes free

No, Pitney Bowes is not entirely free. There are free trial options and limited free tools (such as postage calculators or trial address validation credits), but full-featured shipping, address validation, or hardware rental services require paid subscriptions or purchase agreements.

Pitney Bowes API

Pitney Bowes provides a suite of RESTful APIs and SDKs designed for developers integrating shipping, address validation, tax/duty calculation, and tracking into business applications. Key API capabilities include:

• Address Validation API: Real-time verification, postal formatting, and geocoding for domestic and international addresses.
• Shipping and Labeling API: Rate shopping, label generation, manifest creation, and carrier selection across supported carriers.
• Tracking API: Shipment tracking updates and webhook notifications for status changes.
• Duties and Taxes API: Landed cost estimates, HTS classification references, and customs documentation data for international shipments.
• Returns API and Portal Integration: Build customer-facing returns flows and backend return authorizations that integrate with fulfillment.

Integration details, sample code, and SDKs are available through the Pitney Bowes developer portal. For production use, Pitney Bowes supports API keys, OAuth-based authentication, and provides usage tiers with quotas and SLAs for enterprise customers. See the Pitney Bowes developer portal for up-to-date API documentation and sandbox access.

10 Pitney Bowes alternatives

Paid alternatives to Pitney Bowes

• ShipStation — Cloud-first shipping platform focused on ecommerce sellers, with multi-carrier label printing, automation rules, and marketplace connectors.
• Stamps.com — Postage printing and USPS-focused shipping tools appropriate for small businesses that primarily ship domestically.
• EasyPost — Developer-first shipping APIs for rate shopping, tracking, and label generation with flexible pricing for builders.
• Shippo — Shipping API and dashboard for ecommerce platforms with simple pricing and multi-carrier support.
• Endicia — USPS-centric postage and label printing solutions with batch capabilities for high-volume shippers.
• Pitney Bowes (different modules) — Customers evaluate different Pitney Bowes modules (SendPro, Commerce Cloud) as in-portfolio alternatives depending on need.
• FedEx Ship Manager (cloud) — Carrier-native tools for customers wanting direct FedEx feature sets and billing integration.

Open source alternatives to Pitney Bowes

• OpenShip (community projects) — Community shipping integrations and label printing projects suitable for developers building custom workflows.
• Shipyard (self-hosted orchestrators) — Open workflow orchestration for shipping and fulfillment when paired with open carrier connectors.
• Address validation libraries (libpostal) — Open-source address parsing and normalization libraries used to build custom address validation pipelines.
• Sisimai / Mail parsing tools — For mail return processing and automation in custom mailroom software stacks.

Frequently asked questions about Pitney Bowes

What is Pitney Bowes used for?

Pitney Bowes is used for postage, parcel shipping, address validation, and cross-border ecommerce services. Organizations use it to print postage, generate carrier labels, validate addresses, estimate landed costs for international shipments, and manage returns and shipping analytics.

Does Pitney Bowes offer APIs for developers?

Yes, Pitney Bowes provides RESTful APIs and SDKs. The developer portal includes APIs for address verification, shipping/labeling, tracking, and duties/taxes, plus sandbox keys and code samples for common integration scenarios.

How much does Pitney Bowes cost per month?

Pitney Bowes subscription plans commonly start at $10/month. Entry-level cloud services and small business subscriptions begin near that range; costs increase with additional users, higher API quotas, and enterprise features.

Is there a free version of Pitney Bowes?

No, Pitney Bowes is not fully free but offers limited free tools and trial credits. Full access to shipping, address validation, or hardware requires a paid subscription or lease agreement.

Can Pitney Bowes calculate duties and taxes for international shipments?

Yes, Pitney Bowes includes duties and taxes estimation in its cross-border commerce tools. These features compute landed cost estimates at checkout, prepare customs documentation, and help merchants present accurate total costs to buyers.

Does Pitney Bowes integrate with ecommerce platforms like Shopify?

Yes, Pitney Bowes provides connectors and integrations for major ecommerce platforms. Their commerce and shipping products include prebuilt integrations or APIs that integrate with platforms such as Shopify, Magento, and marketplace channels.

Can I use Pitney Bowes for high-volume enterprise shipping?

Yes, Pitney Bowes supports enterprise-scale shipping with SLAs and account management. Enterprise plans include advanced reporting, SSO, dedicated support, and customization for multi-site deployments.

How secure is Pitney Bowes for handling customer data?

Pitney Bowes implements industry-standard security controls and compliance features. Security measures typically include encrypted connections, access controls, and options for enterprise security add-ons; customers should consult Pitney Bowes' security documentation for specific certifications and controls.

Can I print postage from Pitney Bowes on-site hardware?

Yes, Pitney Bowes sells and leases postage meters and label printers. Hardware is commonly leased with maintenance contracts and ties into cloud accounts for postage accounting and reporting.

Where can I find Pitney Bowes API documentation?

Pitney Bowes publishes API documentation on their developer portal. The portal provides endpoint references, authentication instructions, SDKs, and sandbox access for testing integrations.

pitneybowes.com careers

Pitney Bowes maintains a corporate careers site listing positions across engineering, sales, product, and operations. Roles frequently include software developers (API and cloud), product managers for shipping and ecommerce products, field service for hardware maintenance, and global commerce specialists. Candidates can search openings and submit applications via the Pitney Bowes careers page.

pitneybowes.com affiliate

Pitney Bowes operates reseller and partner programs for value-added resellers, consultants, and channel partners. Affiliate or partner opportunities typically focus on reselling hardware, implementing shipping solutions, or integrating Pitney Bowes services into larger enterprise contracts. Prospective partners should review the Pitney Bowes partner program page for requirements and benefits.

Where to find pitneybowes.com reviews

You can find customer reviews and analyst coverage on technology review sites, ecommerce forums, and logistics industry publications. For product-specific reviews and case studies, check Pitney Bowes' customer success pages and independent review platforms to compare customer experiences with shipping performance, cost savings, and support responsiveness.